Taking advanced courses, which require critical thinking and problem-solving skills, is a strong predictor of post-secondary success for high school students, especially for those who pursue STEM majors and careers. Yet, due to factors between and within schools, such as school financial resources and stereotypes, rates of advanced course taking are lower for Black and Latinx students than their White peers, and rates of taking advanced STEM courses are lower for girls than boys. Carroll and colleagues will use a difference-in-differences approach to examine whether state policies that require students to take advanced high school courses, especially Algebra II and Physics, reduce racial and gender inequalities in advanced course-taking. The team will examine rates of course-taking within racial, ethnic, and gender groups; investigate the relative risk of completing an advanced course between groups to determine whether the policies have gap-closing effects; and evaluate heterogeneity in the impact of state requirements by school characteristics and across racial, ethnic, and gender groups. Findings will provide evidence on the potential of state policies to reduce inequalities in high school and ultimately improve post-secondary outcomes.
Do state high school course-level graduation requirements reduce racial, ethnic, and gender inequalities in students’ advanced course-taking?
